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Weather Forecast: Evening Warmth

Tuesday afternoon: Mostly clear skies. Highs in the 70s. Tuesday night: A few clouds. Lows in the 50s and 60s. Wednesday: Clearing skies. Much warmer with highs in the 80s for most. Thursday: Even warmer with temperatures in the 90s, vying for records in spots.

(Published Tuesday, May 16, 2017)

After a soggy and windy Mother’s Day Weekend with lingering showers that extended into most of Monday, we finally see the return of plenty of sunshine with the heat and humidity quickly building in, if not today, the muggy meter will increase by Thursday. Get ready to see the transition from highs in the 70s for most today, 80s tomorrow, and even 90s by Thursday.

Why we’re seeing such a drastic shift in the warmth?

First, our nor’easter that dampened our weekend plans has since pulled offshore. High pressure is settled well to our south, just off the coast of the Carolinas. The circulation around high pressure is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, so this high pumps all the warmth from the deep south into our area over the next few days, what we like to call a southwesterly flow, but this also brings the humidity.

This close-to-record-breaking warmth is ahead of our next system that will bring a few showers, which could include embedded thunder, into northwestern New England Thursday evening, followed by a slight cool-down for this upcoming weekend, starting as early as Friday evening. However, when you look at the records that are at risk, the slight cool-down for the weekend will be refreshing and not nearly as chilly as last weekend.

With 90s forecasted for Thursday, most spots in New England hold records in the lower 90s from the early 1900s. Manchester, New Hampshire, even may tie or beat its record of 93° that has been in the books since 1889.

In the meantime, sunscreen and plenty of water are a necessity with the heat moving in. Plus, there’s not great news for our allergy sufferers, as the pollen count will be through the roof this week, but with showers arriving by next Monday, we could see some slight relief. As always, you can stay up to date on the very latest forecast updates on the air and online, and don’t forget to take our forecast on the go with our NBC Boston app and necn app.